Why Not Geothermal? What Am I Missing?

Richard Ha writes:

Why aren’t we looking to export geothermal from the Big Island? The considerable rents and royalties could be used to benefit the most defenseless in our society, while protecting the rest of us from the energy tax of fossil or green biofuels.

Why not geothermal? This question has been on my mind since I came back from the Peak Oil conference in Houston in 2007. Is there something I am missing?

We talk about getting 70 percent of our power from renewable sources by 2030. We talk about laying a cable to Lana‘i to bring wind energy to O‘ahu. We talk about biodiesel as a way to provide fuel for transportation.

But wind energy is unstable and we would need to balance it by using some sort of stable power, so we will still have to rely on diesel generators. Though we talk about no longer depending on fossil fuel generators, we would be relying on biofuels generators to make our electricity.

We even talk about generating our own biofuels. Well, maybe and maybe not. Farming palm nuts or jatropha on a large scale is not practical, and algae and cellulosic fuel generation is not proven. We hope that these technologies will eventually work, but hoping is not a energy policy.

We can import biofuels from Asia and call it renewable and green. But we will still be exporting part of our economy, no matter what color it is.

On the Big Island we have free geothermal energy. It would be a good way to stabilize wind energy. 

Why not geothermal? What am I missing?

Comments

[Dave Smith]

The question about greater utilization of geothermal would best be directed toward HELCO, which for years has been reluctant to enter into a power purchase agreement with PGV for additional electricity. One of the reasons the utility has given in the past was that it already had sufficient generation capability, but that was also in the days of avoided cost, where the producer is paid what it would have cost to generate it with fossil fuels.

As for exporting the power to other islands, that was discussed in the past but the means (i.e. undersea cable) seemed to be beyond the reach of those involved both environmentally and financially.

Also, with a declining resource (less steam, more brine) PGV has also had its own problems maintaining generation capacity. A departure from avoided cost, which I understand is the current trend, would probably also reduce PGV's incentive for expansion.

[Richard Ha]

Thanks for your comments. Everything you say is true.

I just worry that as world population increases and world oil well discoveries do not keep up with usage, we in Hawaii will be hurt badly as oil prices rise. It just seems that we should try harder to integtate more geothermal energy into our electrical grid. It has the potential of helping the most defenseless among us --using rents and royalties and more.

[Lou]

As I read it, geothermal is where our focus should be -- wind is unstable and disrupts wildlife patterns; PV solar is barely break-even today; tidal would inevitably disrupt crucial habitat -- same for hydro-electric; coal, oil, and nuclear are too toxic.

If geothermal calculations are correct, geothermal power would likely outlive the human species without a noticeable impact.